Mike Minor held the Royals to one run in six innings Wednesday, but he still took his first loss since last Aug. 19 with the Braves getting shut out. Minor had won seven straight since losing to the Dodgers last August. Just like today, Minor gave up one run and the Braves were shut out in that one. Minor hasn’t given up more than three runs and lost since way back on June 30. Unfortunately, he was outdueled by the Royals’ Wade Davis, who tossed seven shutout innings. Still, don’t take anything away from Minor, who remains hot out of the gate. He has allowed just two earned runs in 19 innings (0.95 ERA) and his five strikeouts Wednesday gives him 20 for the season. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Freddie Freeman (oblique) could begin a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday. Freeman will have to make it through a workout on Thursday before being cleared for game action. Freeman is scheduled to take batting practice and infield Thursday, then travel to Charlotte to play for Gwinnett. “If everything goes well, I’ll fly to Denver on Monday,” Freeman said. “That’s the plan, barring no setbacks (with the oblique). But I feel great. Ramped it up even more today in the cage. Hopefully, tomorrow everything will go well on the field.”(Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Ryan Braun said his neck is no longer an issue. Braun entered Wednesday’s game with just one hit in his last 18 at-bats while striking out 10 times over that stretch. It prompted concerns about a neck injury that cropped up earlier in the month, but the outfielder insists his swing is just out of whack right now. “My neck is fine now,” he said. “It was [messed] up for a while. The first couple of games in St. Louis I’m sure it didn’t help, but it’s not an issue now. Nothing is physical. I’m fine. My swing just [stinks] sometimes.” (Rotoworld)

Zack Cozart went 3-for-5 with his fourth home run of the year against the Phillies on Wednesday. Cozart nearly had a home run in his first at-bat — settling for a double instead — but he made sure there was no doubt about it in the fifth inning. Cozart is still hitting just .214, but batting ahead of Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips will offer Cozart plenty of opportunities to score runs. (Rotoworld)

Dodgers pitcher Ted Lilly will be activated off the disabled list to start next Wednesday against the Mets, MLB.com reports. The left-hander had been building up shoulder strength in the minors, where he went 0-3 with a 6.88 ERA in three starts. Los Angeles has a void in the rotation with both Chris Capuano (calf) and Zack Greinke (collarbone) on the disabled list. (CBS Sports)

Brandon Phillips went 2-for-2 with three RBI as the Reds defeated the Phillies on Wednesday. Phillips did all his damage in the first three innings, as he was later replaced by Cesar Izturis in the blowout. Phillips is now hitting .351 with a whopping 19 RBI for the year. As long as he continues to hit in the middle of the Reds order, there’s no reason to think he can’t continue to rack up the counting stats as well. (Rotoworld)

Asked Thursday morning about the Cardinals’ ninth-inning gig, general manager John Mozeliak noted that Edward Mujica is the “most senior guy” and “fearless.” Mitchell Boggs has been terrible at closer and Trevor Rosenthal hasn’t been much better in a setup role, so the Cardinals could look to Mujica for their next save opportunity. Mujica, 28, boasts a 1.15 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 26/4 K/BB ratio in 31 1/3 innings since moving from the Marlins to the Cardinals late last summer. He needs to be scooped up in all standard fantasy leagues. (Rotoworld)

Manager Dale Sveum said Wednesday that Kyuji Fujikawa (forearm) is the “logical choice” to take over the closer’s role when he is activated from the disabled list, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Cubs are going with the committee approach in the ninth inning for the time being, but since no one has stepped up and thrown the ball well in Fujikawa’s absence, it appears he will get his job back when he is healthy. Fujikawa is eligible to be activated from the disabled list Apr. 28, so he could be back in the closer’s role before the end of the month. (Rotowire)